The Dying Process with Christopher Kerr

This workshop will focus on a physician’s perspective of the dying process, from diagnosis to death, and the vital need to humanize the care for those at the end of life. Dying is more than medical failure; it is the closing of a life. People do not stop living because they are dying.; in fact, dying is an important part of living. In addition to discussion of specific case studies, this interactive workshop will allow participants to discuss their own experiences with death and ask questions about those processes.

Christopher Kerr is the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Executive Officer at Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Chris earned his MD as well as a PhD in Neurobiology. Outside of direct patient care, Chris’ focus is in the area of patient advocacy. His passion is palliative care and a belief that such care should be throughout the continuum of illness. Under Dr. Kerr’s medical leadership, Hospice Buffalo now serves 1,200 patients a day, half of whom receive services prior to hospice. Dr. Kerr’s background in research has evolved from bench science towards the human experience of illness as witnessed from the bedside, specifically patient’s dreams and visions at the end of life. Although medically ignored, these near universal experiences often provide comfort and meaning, as well as insight into the life led and the death anticipated. To date, the research team at Hospice Buffalo has published multiple studies on this topic and documented over 1,500 end-of-life events, many of which are videotaped. This work was the subject of his TEDx Buffalo Talk which has been viewed over 5 million times. It has been the subject of numerous reports around the world as well as The BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly, Scientific American Mind, Huffington Post, and Psychology Today. It is also featured in a recent docu-series on Netflix called Surviving Death and a PBS Documentary called Death Is but A Dream. Dr. Kerr’s work has also been published in a book (Death Is but A Dream) by Penguin Random House which was released in 2020 in over 10 languages. Dr. Kerr lives on a horse farm in East Aurora, NY. More information at www.drchristopherkerr.com.

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Non-reimbursement: Tickets are non-refundable; no reimbursement for unused or unattended events.